Alleged racism in the National Assembly: Haroun Bouazzi says he does “pedagogy”

In embarrassment for 24 hours, MP Haroun Bouazzi, of Québec solidaire (QS), maintains that the comments he made on alleged racism in the National Assembly were “distorted”.

In a long interview given Friday to the Montreal show All one morningon ICI Première, the representative of the Maurice-Richard constituency in Parliament reiterated that he had not Never treated person of racist.

Mr. Bouazzi has been in the hot seat since a column published Thursday in the Montreal Journal drew attention to a speech given by the principal concerned at the beginning of the month during a gala organized by the Club Avenir Foundation, a OSBL working for the integration of Maghreb communities into the host society.

God knows that I see this in the National Assembly every day, the construction of this other, of this other who is North African, who is Muslim, who is black, who is indigenous, and of his culture which, by definition, would be dangerous or inferiorhe declared, drawing applause from the audience.

Many elected officials quickly condemned this speech on Thursday. Mr. Bouazzi was even rebuffed by the spokespersons of QSGabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Ruba Ghazal, who described his remarks as clumsy andexaggerated.

In the misquoted club?

The main person concerned, however, persists and signs, he who had already declared on the X network on Thursday that he had not never said that the people elected to the National Assembly were racist.

In an interview with Patrick Masbourian – the only one he has agreed to give on this subject – Haroun Bouazzi explained that he wanted to of pedagogy and deplored that his words had been misinterpreted.

I understand that there are all kinds of people who are bothered by the fact that I can teach about how we construct others as dangerous.

Saying very comfortable with what he said in front of the Club Avenir Foundation, Mr. Bouazzi did not want to apologize for his remarks, despite the opportunities offered by the host to this effect. At most he said to himself sorry that people felt challenged when he [dit] that there are people who participate in the construction of the other.

The MP, however, recognized that certain subjects were more difficult than others to address in the public square and welcomed the courage that it took to do it.

Specifying that he himself had never been a victim of discrimination in Quebec, Mr. Bouazzi explained on Friday that he wanted, in his speech read before the Club Avenir Foundation, to denounce the mechanisms of racismaccusing the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ) of too often blaming immigrants.

The MP even insinuated that PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was a follower of the conspiracy theory of the great replacement, which Patrick Masbourian immediately opposed, reproaching his interlocutor for doing extrapolations and amalgamations.

To support his remarks, Mr. Bouazzi notably recalled that the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, had, last week, justified the difficulty of carrying out his Health Plan successfully by the presence, among othersof 600 000 [immigrants] temporary in Quebec.

He also recalled that the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, had maintained, two weeks ago, that the new arrivals had a impact on the request in matters of youth protection.

If he did not want to qualify these statements as racistMr. Bouazzi invoked them several times on Friday to illustrate his point, comparing these outings to those of Jean Boulet, who, during the 2022 electoral campaign, had maintained that 80% of immigrants struggled to integrate into Quebec society .

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Bouazzi’s interview with All one morning triggered a plethora of reactions on the X network on Friday, starting with those of the ministers concerned.

Christian Dubé, first and foremost, in turn accused the solidarity deputy of twisting the facts. Mr. Bouazzi is looking for others to blame for the regrettable comments he himself made; he must retracthe declared.

Minister Carmant also protested. I will never accept being accused of fueling racism, he replied. I am a proud Quebecer of Haitian origin. Haroun Bouazzi goes beyond the limits. Québec solidaire must immediately react.

The parliamentary leader of the CAQSimon Jolin-Barrette, for his part implied that Mr. Bouazzi should be excluded from his group in the National Assembly. Québec solidaire cannot condone this type of comments within its caucushe said.

Same story PQ : Québec solidaire will have to make a decision, [et] quicklydeclared MP Pascal Bérubé, a few minutes after the end of the interview on Friday. It is the integrity of the National Assembly that is at stakehe pleaded.

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This affair comes as a special congress on the statutes of QS. It risks overshadowing the coronation of Ruba Ghazal, who will be confirmed on Saturday in her role as the party’s new female spokesperson.